This invention relates to arrangements for positioning articles and containers and, more particularly, to devices and systems for effective tiedown of articles and containers within railroad boxcars during shipment.
Articles shipped by railroad boxcar are subjected to forces tending to cause displacement of such articles within the boxcar. Such forces arise during transit and particularly when boxcars are bumped together during assembly of a train of boxcars.
Severe damage can result if heavy articles are displaced by such forces. To avoid damage, tiedown systems and other arrangements have been proposed and employed. Typically, such arrangements have been subject to one or more shortcomings, such as excessive cost, difficulty of practical use and reuse, ineffectiveness or limited capacity. Shortcomings of prior systems have been exacerbated in the environment of railroad boxcars. Boxcars are typically characterized by a slotted steel floor, to which it is difficult to make firm connection, and wooden sides, which are not structurally adequate for connection of tiedown members to restrain large heavy articles. Thus, for example, while a boxcar is capable of transporting large rolls of newsprint weighing several tons, there are typically inadequate facilities within the boxcar to permit secure connection of prior tiedown restraining devices.
Objects of the invention, therefore, are to provide new and improved tiedown systems and devices, and such systems and devices having one or more of the following characteristics and capabilities:
secure attachment to a boxcar floor; PA1 ease of installation and removal; PA1 economical construction; PA1 reliable capacity and performance; PA1 strong, simple fixtures for floor attachment; PA1 simple warp spikes for fixture attachment to slotted flooring; and PA1 fixtures with reliable attachment points for tiedown tension members.